Benjamin Franklin Booth
1858-1941

Benjamin F. Booth was one of Memphis' earliest and most distinguished African-American lawyers. Starting in 1886, he practiced law for more than 54 years. In 1905, he challenged Tennessee's law authorizing the segregation of black and white passengers on street cars. Some of his cases were heard before the United States Supreme Court. At his death in 1941, Booth was the oldest practicing attorney in Memphis.